WORKING FOR YOU John Horgan's Commitments to BC - BC NDP
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WORKING
FOR YOU
John Horgan’s
Commitments to BC
Table of Contents
A message from John Horgan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
BC Together: Fighting a Pandemic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Better Health Care for You & Your Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Affordability & Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Good Jobs & Livelihoods in a Clean-Energy Future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Our Plan’s Guiding Principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
A Responsible & Balanced Fiscal Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
A Message
from John Horgan
In 2020, the people of British Columbia have proven
their commitment and passion for our province.
Through unprecedented health risks, financial
pressures and, sadly for too many, the heartbreak
of losing someone close, people have put their
family, neighbours, community and province first.
And with no end in sight for the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting
financial hardships on people and businesses, British Columbia has reached
a fork in the road. Election 2020 is about which path you want to take –
about what kind of future you want as we face the new reality and move
towards full recovery.
Before COVID-19 hit, we had begun fixing all the problems created through
years of the BC Liberals working for people at the top while making you pay
the price. And the progress we’ve made together continues with the plan
we’re presenting here. With your support, we can continue to move BC
forward – investing in people, and delivering the programs and services that
matter most to you.
John Horgan
BC Together: Better Health Care Affordability & Good jobs &
Fighting a for you security livelihoods
Pandemic & your family in your home for a clean-energy
& community future
1
BC Together:
Fighting a Pandemic
If 2020 has shown us anything, it’s the
positive strides our province can take
when we all work together.
In the first six months of the pandemic, John people back to work, support BC businesses, and
Horgan and the NDP government launched its strengthen our neighbourhoods and communities.
COVID-19 Action Plan, investing more than $8
Our COVID-19 Action and Economic Recovery plans
billion in services and supports that helped people,
are about making sure we look out for one another
communities and local businesses. And we followed
– just like you’re doing every day.
that up in September with a made-in-BC Economic
Recovery Plan that will improve health care, get
BC’s COVID-19 Action Plan: Key Investments
More than ever, putting people first has never been as important as it
is in the COVID-19 reality. John Horgan and the NDP responded quickly
with made-in-BC investments that filled in the gaps in federal supports,
including:
• A $1,000 Emergency Benefit for Workers provided to more than
600,000 workers in the province.
• Temporary rent relief for more than 86,000 renters, giving them
security from the threat of eviction.
• Crisis supplements for more than 200,000 people on disability and
income assistance.
• A doubling of the annual enhanced climate action tax credit, putting
more money in the pockets of 80% of BC families.
• Property tax cuts, deferred tax payments, BC Hydro rate relief and
more for businesses across the province.
• An Economic Recovery Plan that helps deliver a better future for
people, communities, and businesses.
2
Moving our COVID-19 Plan Forward
Moving forward, John Horgan’s NDP government will expand its
COVID-19 Action Plan to cover five key areas that will help create more
security for everyone in British Columbia:
Keeping people healthy and safe: In August, Canada’s Chief
1 Public Health Officer, Dr. Theresa Tam, warned that even
with a vaccine, COVID-19 may well be around for years to
come. Our Action Plan will stay in place, as we leverage the
progress we’ve made in improving health services with new
ideas to help keep people safe.
Providing free COVID-19 vaccines: When they are
2 approved and available, anyone who wants the vaccine will
receive it.
Getting BC ready for fall and winter: To make sure BC is
3 ready for further phases of COVID-19 while also battling
a new flu season, our $1.6 billion preparedness plan
will deliver: 7,000 new front-line health care workers in
long-term care and assisted living; 2 million doses of flu
vaccines; and, a new Hospital at Home program so patients
can get safe care while in the comfort of their homes, and
taking pressure off hospitals.
A long-term economic recovery plan: People have told
4 us that to move forward, our province can’t go back to
the way things were under the BC Liberals – where tax
cuts for those at the top left everyone else behind. That’s
why our economic recovery plan is built around people,
communities, workers, and our province’s small businesses.
Preparing British Columbia for the next one: COVID-19
5 has shown us what can happen when an unexpected and
overwhelming health crisis occurs. Our job is to make BC
ready for the next one. As part of our Action Plan, we’re
going to continue developing a pandemic prevention plan
that brings to BC state-of-the-art testing, contact tracing,
and hospital management procedures and technology.
3
Better health care
for you & your family
We’ve accomplished a lot in three years, but coming
on the heels of 16 years of neglect, there’s more to do
to fix health care in our province – and then make it
work even better for you. That means:
Faster care closer care More Personalized Care
with reduced wait times for through building new hospitals where the health care “system”
the care you need by providing and additions, more community- is more streamlined around your
more surgeries, diagnostics and based Urgent Primary Care health needs, rather than you
procedures, and training more Centres, and more e-health and having to navigate your way
health care professionals here tele-health services – allowing through it.
in BC. you to get the care you need
in your community and even
your home.
Reducing your wait for care
After years of BC Liberal neglect of health care, we’re getting results
in reducing your wait for care. And 2021 will be a crucial year in our
health care plan.
More doctors, nurses and health professionals
We’re acting now to get the doctors, nurses, and other health care
professionals BC needs to cut wait times and deliver more personalized
care to you.
4
A better life for seniors
BC seniors in care are still hurting from the damage done by 16 years
of BC Liberal government neglect – we’re improving the level of care to
help make seniors more secure and healthy.
A 10-year cancer care plan to get and
keep you healthy
We need to make a big investment in how our province provides care
to patients with cancer, with a focus on more individualized care from a
team built around their needs.
Saving lives, healing pain
BC is now on the right path to saving more lives and delivering the
critical addictions and mental health services people need.
5
Care in your Community
For too long under the BC Liberals, people were often
shut out of the health care they needed. The problems
were everywhere – long waits, hallway medicine, a
shortage of health professionals and, worst of all, a clear
move toward private clinics where the rich would be able
to jump the queue while the rest of us waited longer.
In three years, John Horgan and the NDP have begun to turn the corner – with
better, more affordable public health care where people are treated faster. The
next term as government is critical to continuing the work we started, including:
• Delivering more Urgent Primary Care Centres: In projects. We’ll continue to build and modernize
addition to the 21 UPCCs opened or coming soon, hospitals around BC to deliver you the best
ten more are on their way to deliver better and care possible.
faster care in more communities, attach people to • A new focus on rural communities: Under the BC
doctors, and help take the pressure off emergency Liberals, people in rural, remote and Indigenous
rooms. communities were largely ignored when it came
• More personalized care through expanded to health care services. Our rural collaborative
Primary Care Networks: Primary Care Networks framework is changing that, delivering more
deliver more personalized and coordinated care to immediate and culturally safe care closer to home.
you – with different health care providers sharing • Reuniting the health care team for better
information, data and opinions to make sure you care: The BC Liberals fired and contracted out
get the best care possible. With many already in housekeeping and dietary hospital workers, and
place, we’ll bring this vital health care network to long-term care aides. We’re putting an end to big
more BC communities. multinational corporations cutting corners on your
• Bringing health care into your home: The Hospital care by moving to bring those valuable workers
at Home program we’re launching as part of our back into the public service.
COVID-19 fall preparedness plan is a blueprint • Health care that respects and reflects
for expanding e-health and tele-health services our diverse province: On the heels of our
more broadly, so people can get virtual visits from government’s investigation into racism in the
doctors and nurses at home. health care system, we are reaching out to health
• Building more hospitals and additions: In just employers and unions to prioritize the hiring of a
three years, the John Horgan NDP government health care workforce that better represents the
has moved forward with 14 hospital construction communities it serves.
6
Reducing your wait
for care
Back in the days of the BC Liberals, there was a
single MRI machine that was operating 24 hours a
day, seven days a week. Just three years into a John
Horgan NDP government, there are now ten. That
means people are getting faster care and wait times
are going down. In fact, in just the first year of our
MRI strategy, we’ve increased the number of MRIs
performed each year by 45 percent – cutting wait
times for this critical diagnostic service in half.
Moving forward, we’ll be increasing the number of surgeries and MRIs to
beyond what they were before COVID-19 by:
• Maximizing the capacity of existing surgical and diagnostic space: The
BC Liberals had surgical rooms sitting empty too often even while people
were waiting in frustration for needed surgery. We’re developing new
strategies to optimize surgical and diagnostic space and teams, so BC can
keep pace with the demand for new surgeries and increase the number of
MRIs annually – reducing people’s wait for care and relief.
• Adding four more MRI machines in the next year: We’re putting more
MRIs in areas of highest remaining demand – Ridge Meadows Hospital
(Maple Ridge), Langley Memorial, Vancouver General and St. Paul’s, with
more to come.
• Providing the hospital staff needed to perform more surgeries and
other procedures: Our training, recruitment, certification and retention
strategies will help make sure BC has the skilled health workforce to
deliver care faster.
7
More doctors, nurses
& health professionals
We know that BC needs more staff in all areas
of health care: doctors, nurses, technologists,
technicians and aides. We’ve begun the work of fixing
this problem through better training, recruitment
and retention – and in our first three years in office,
we’ve seen significant gains in BC’s health care
workforce. But more is needed, and here’s what we’re
committing to:
• Launching BC’s second medical school to
expand our health care workforce: This means
more doctors, nurse practitioners, nurses and
other health professionals trained, graduating
and working right here in BC.
• A comprehensive health care human resources
strategy including credential recognition: From
doctors and nurses to long-term care aides,
we will make sure BC is well-prepared to deal
with future demand and pressures. In addition
to expanding training in all fields of health care,
we’ll be improving the province’s credential
recognition process and licensing so that
people trained in other countries can provide
their skills and knowledge here in BC.
8A better life for seniors
For BC seniors, it was a long sixteen years of BC
Liberal neglect, leaving our province with fragmented
and unaccountable care for seniors – and leaving
long-term care centres especially susceptible to
COVID-19 outbreaks
The BC Liberals were never able to meet the target they set of 3.36 hours of
care per day per senior. But by 2021, we’ll have met that goal in every region
of the province. Now we’re moving to exceed that standard, and deliver
better care to seniors in BC by:
• Keeping seniors safer in a crisis: COVID-19
showed the cracks in long-term care caused
by 16 years of BC Liberal neglect. We
responded to the outbreaks by delivering
stability for front-line workers and, in turn,
better care for seniors. We’ll make sure long-
term care remains robust, well-funded, and
able to quickly respond to a crisis.
• Hiring 7,000 new health care workers
in long-term care and assisted living: In
addition to bringing back the long-term care
jobs that were privatized by the BC Liberals,
we’re investing $44 million to hire and train
7,000 new health care workers for long-term
care homes and assisted living facilities. This
Health Career Access Program will provide
new opportunities for workers who lost their
jobs in other sectors
due to COVID-19.
9• Delivering better care for seniors through • Improving home care for safe, independent
a better deal for workers: Keeping trained, living: We’ll expand publicly funded home care
qualified staff is critical for providing better care. to provide better care and help with daily living
We will develop a staffing retention strategy that – bathing, dressing, meal preparation and more
provides workers in long-term care and assisted – so that people can stay in their own homes for
living with “levelled up wages” even after the as long as is safely possible. It will also improve
pandemic ends, and restore provincial standards continuity of care with seniors receiving visits
for wages, benefits, and working conditions that from a more consistent group of care aides.
were cut by the BC Liberals. • Launching a Silver Alert system: Working with
• Building better, public long-term care homes: community groups and the BC Seniors Advocate,
The BC Liberals doled out hundreds of millions to we will develop a made-in-BC Silver Alert system
for-profit corporations to create new care homes to help assist first responders locate missing
– and it failed miserably, with four of those care seniors, particularly those with dementia and
homes put under public administration for failing Alzheimer’s disease.
to provide required levels of care. We’re working
with non-profits to build public care homes
that keep seniors safer, healthier and more
comfortable.
• Making sure private operators deliver better
care: For-profit care home operators failed to
deliver more than 200,000 hours of care they
were paid by the public to provide. We’re putting
care before profit through new requirements
that will make sure private operators are more
transparent and accountable for the public
funding they get.
10A 10-year cancer care plan
to get and keep you healthy
Working with BC Cancer and BC’s health authorities,
John Horgan’s NDP government will make British
Columbia a leader in cancer care by launching a
10-year cancer care action plan built around:
• An anywhere/anytime commitment so that
all cancer care patients get information and
care when they need it, including in rural
communities.
• Providing more individualized care for cancer
patients, including dedicated teams providing a
full continuum of care.
• Improving that continuum of care by investing
in new equipment, systems and procedures
that deliver leading-edge prevention, screening,
diagnosis and treatment services.
• Expanding and funding enhanced research
and diagnostic capabilities, allowing health
professionals to improve the precision of disease
risk prediction, prevention, diagnostics and
treatment.
11Saving Lives, healing pain
The pain is felt in every part of this province. The pain
of lives impacted by mental health challenges or the
grip of addiction.
It’s why our government, on day one, created a Ministry of Mental Health
and Addictions, the only one of its kind in Canada. Because we knew that
while there are so many dedicated front-line workers out there doing their
best every day to help people, they needed more complete and structured
support and resources to deliver ongoing, coordinated care.
Building on the start we’ve made, we will:
• Scale up BC’s response to the opioid crisis: • Fast-track move toward decriminalization:
Before COVID-19 hit, BC had its first drop in the We’ll work with police chiefs to push Ottawa
rate of overdose deaths since 2012. As we now to decriminalize simple possession of small
deal with two public health emergencies, we will amounts of illicit drugs for personal use, or
keep accelerating BC’s response across the full develop a made-in-BC solution that will help
continuum of care: prevention, harm reduction, save lives.
safe prescription medications, treatment, and • Develop better options for chronic work-
recovery. related pain: In partnership with WorkSafeBC,
• Crack down on the toxic drug supply: We’ll we’ll identify new ways of improving pain
free up police to focus on serious crime in management practices for injured workers – and
BC communities, including cracking down on mandate WorkSafeBC to provide treatment on
those who distribute toxic drugs on the streets. demand to those with chronic pain as a result of
We’ll also explore new ways to help prescribers workplace injuries.
separate more people from the toxic drug supply
through safe prescription alternatives.
12As part of our 10-year Pathway to Hope mental
health plan, we will:
• Expand the availability of treatment beds for • Develop Complex Care housing: We’ll provide
people: We will build new treatment, recovery, an increased level of support – including more
detox and after-care facilities across the access to nurses and psychiatrists – for BC’s
province, including in communities with an most vulnerable who need more intensive care
expressed need such as Maple Ridge, with some than supportive housing provides, including in
beds specifically for British Columbians under places like the Riverview lands in Coquitlam.
age 24. We will also step up oversight of recovery • Expand access to counselling: By investing in
homes and other private treatment providers to new e-health and other technologies, we can
ensure quality care, accountability, and value for bring mental health care to more people in all
money. regions of BC – reducing counselling costs for
• Focus new mental health initiatives on kids and people in rural and remote communities, in
young adults: We’ve developed an initial mental particular, because access to care shouldn’t
health approach that focuses on addressing depend on the size of your bank account.
problems early, before they become too big.
Moving forward, we’ll establish successful
Foundry youth centres in more communities
and dedicated mental health teams in school
districts.
13Making health care
more affordable
In three years, we’ve taken bold steps to make
health care more affordable. From eliminating MSP
premiums (the largest middle class tax cut in BC
history) to making prescriptions free or low cost for
almost a quarter-million families, to removing age
restrictions for coverage of expensive insulin pumps
for people with Type-1 diabetes.
All of this is saving many British Columbians thousands of dollars a year.
While the BC Liberals have opposed many of the steps we’ve taken, we’ll
keep working to make health care more affordable for you by:
• Fighting for a national pharmacare program while
enhancing Fair Pharmacare: We will continually review
cost thresholds and drug eligibility with the goal of bringing
the cost of prescription drugs down for you.
• Making contraception free: Cost should not prevent
individuals, particularly young people, from their right
to make choices about their reproductive health. While
condoms can be easily found for little or no cost, and
vasectomies are covered under MSP, prescription
contraception is not covered. It’s time to make
contraception free for all.
14Affordability
& Security
15Affordability & security in
your home and community
The suddenness of COVID-19 has made all of us
appreciate the idea of home more than ever. More
than it already was, it became a place of safety, of
recovery, and for many of us an often-chaotic mix
of work, play, child care and much more. For a few
months, everything in your life happened in your
home – proving again that your home, in turn,
is everything.
Over its first three years, John Horgan’s NDP government worked
to build more homes, make them more affordable whether you own
or rent, make your neighbourhoods safer and healthier, and create
improved access to the public services you need to truly make your
community a home.
Many of the investments we’ve made – large, small or somewhere in
the middle – have been aimed at fixing 16 years of neglect and service
cuts by the former BC Liberal government. We’ve made a good start,
and we’re ready to keep making life more affordable and secure for
everyone in BC.
A recovery benefit for British Columbians
We’re helping ease the financial impact of COVID-19 for people in
British Columbia who have been hit the hardest.
16More affordable housing
We’re making it easier for you to find a home you can afford. The next
four years are critical to the success of our 10-year Homes For BC plan
to build and revitalize affordable homes for everyone from students to
seniors.
Better access to affordable child care
The investments we’ve made in child care are saving families up to
$19,000 a year. Next up in our 10-year ChildCareBC plan is bringing
universal $10-a-day child care to more families.
Better learning for BC students
After years of BC Liberal underfunding, schools, teachers, education
assistants and support staff are now getting the resources they need to
give students the education they deserve.
Moving you around faster & more affordably
With help already underway through our Economic Recovery Plan,
we’re focused on new action to help BC businesses grow and hire.
17Tackling climate change, protecting nature
The next few years are critical in moving BC to cleaner energy and
reduced climate pollution through our CleanBC plan – while taking new
steps to protect more of BC’s unique natural heritage.
Moving towards greater self-determination for
Indigenous peoples
BC became the first province to enshrine the United Nations’
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) in law – we’ll
now move forward together to further self-determination.
Equality, inclusion & human rights.
For everyone.
While BC Liberal MLAs continue to fight against inclusion and equality,
we’re bringing back human rights protection and making BCa leader in
LGBTQ2S+ recognition and rights.
Safer, caring & healthier neighbourhoods
Whether it’s safer streets or helping protect you from mass floods,
we’re putting in place the plans to make BC communities safer, more
caring and healthier.
18A recovery benefit
for British Columbians
Providing $1,000 to people who’ve been hit
hardest by COVID-19: The pandemic has caused
so much pain and hardship for so many people
in British Columbia. In a province with a good
economy, we’re fortunate that so many have
been able to navigate their way through the
financial impacts. But for others, the financial
stress is felt every day.
The BC Liberals’ answer is to provide tax cuts – but those are proven
to help people at the top while making everyone else pay for them
through cuts to public services. And those public services are needed
now more than ever.
Instead, many of the actions the John Horgan government has taken in
our Restart and Economic Recovery plans are helping people find the
training and job opportunities to get back on a better financial footing.
And to help provide more immediate relief, we will provide:
• A one-time $1,000 direct • A one-time $500 direct
deposit to families whose deposit to single people
household income is under earning less than $62,000
$125,000 annually – with a annually – with a sliding scale
sliding scale up to $175,000. up to $87,000.
19Making housing more affordable
& available
Whether you rent or own, you’re looking for more
availability, greater security and better affordability.
But the BC Liberals made that harder for so many
years, by allowing speculators and money launderers
to drive up the cost of housing, putting profits for
big developers ahead of building housing everyday
people could afford, and neglecting the safety and
security of existing co-op rental housing.
John Horgan and the BC NDP are turning that around. As part of our 10-
year Homes For BC plan, we’ve already built tens of thousands of affordable
rental and supportive homes for people, we’re fixing up BC’s existing stock of
social housing, and through our Speculation and Vacancy tax – which the BC
Liberals would eliminate – we’ve turned thousands of empty units into new
rental homes.
And here’s where our Homes For BC plan will • Reducing construction costs to make homes
take us in the next few years: more affordable: By bringing down costs
• Freezing rents to the end of 2021 and capping for developers, we can bring down the cost
increases after that: To make life more of housing for people. We’ll streamline and
affordable for renters – particularly during the modernize housing construction by eliminating
hardship caused by COVID-19 – we will freeze outdated parking minimums in projects close to
rents until the end of 2021. After that, the action public transit, develop a single-window provincial
we took to limit rent increases to the rate of permitting process, and work with communities
inflation will be made permanent. to streamline approval processes at the local
• Providing a renter’s rebate: We will bring in an level.
income-tested renter’s rebate of $400 a year for • Controlling the rising cost of strata insurance:
households earning up to $80,000 annually that We’ve begun tackling this problem already
are not already receiving other rental support. by closing loopholes in strata insurance and
beefing up regulatory powers – and tasked the
BC Financial Services Authority to investigate
and find new ways to help bring insurance costs
down. If rates have not corrected by the end of
2021, we will develop a public strata insurance
option, similar to Saskatchewan.
20• Continuing to deliver a steady supply of new • Getting more affordable housing built through
affordable homes: For years, when housing- Housing Hub partnerships: Through the Housing
related revenues were soaring, BC Liberal Hub we launched in 2018, we’ll provide additional
government investments in affordable public low-interest loans to add tens of thousands more
housing fell short. The resulting lack of affordable homes for middle-income families. We’ll expand
housing has hurt people, communities, and our the role of this innovative team to partner with
economy. Our government has started to turn non-profit and co-op housing providers to
that around, with more than 25,000 affordable acquire and preserve existing rental housing.
homes – including co-op housing – complete We’ll also instruct the Housing Hub to look for
or underway across the province in just three new pathways to home ownership through rent-
years. But there is more work to do. At stake in to-own or other equity-building programs.
this election is our 10-year housing plan, and the • Building more supportive housing: With 2,800
114,000 new, affordable housing it’s bringing to units of supportive housing already built in just
tens of thousands of British Columbians. We will a few years, we’ll increase that total to at least
continue rolling out our Homes For BC plan, the 5,000 units through our 10-year Homes For BC
largest investment in affordable housing in our plan – helping to curb existing encampments and
province’s history. prevent new encampments from being created.
• Providing more homes for Indigenous people • New rent supplements for people moving on
in BC : We will deliver the remaining units in our from supportive housing: We will provide rent
$550 million commitment to building 1,750 new supplements for residents of supportive housing
homes, both on- and off-reserve – and pressure who are ready to move on to independent living
the federal government to do its share in – freeing up space in existing supportive housing
providing urgent housing for Indigenous people.
21Better access to affordable,
quality child care
For so many young families, our ChildCareBC plan
has made all the difference in the world. Three years
ago, families already hit with high housing and other
monthly costs were in a bind – they needed two
incomes to keep their families safe and healthy,
but they either couldn’t find or afford the child care
needed for both parents to be working.
The BC Liberals couldn’t understand that dilemma when they were
government, and they haven’t seemed to learn since then – with one of their
MLAs calling child care “harmful” to children and suggesting that mothers
just stay home with the kids.
Our plan is expanding opportunities for parents and families by saving
families up to $19,000 a year in child care costs, while also building
more public child care spaces. The path is set. And a John Horgan NDP
government will continue making great strides down that path toward
universal child care, including:
• Protecting child care in law: Much in the way savings of thousands of dollars each month to
that legislation was introduced to enshrine the help families get ahead.
concept of universal health care, we will protect • More spaces through a new child care capital
the principles of affordable, accessible, and program: We will exceed our target of 22,000
inclusive quality child care in legislation. new child care spaces by expanding our child
• Bringing $10-a-day child care to more families: care capital program and modular strategy
Our focus on affordability for families has already for child care. When government builds a new
led to 32,700 families paying $10-a-day or less school, housing complex or other projects we
on child care for their kids. Partnering with the will work to ensure child care is included in their
federal government, we will expand the number capital plans.
of $10-a-day child care spaces while enhancing
our other affordability measures – delivering
22• More convenient and secure child care at your • Training and keeping more early learning
local school: A John Horgan NDP government educators: We’ll make sure Early Childhood
will work towards providing universal access to Educators (ECE) are a well-supported profession,
before- and after-school care on school grounds just like teachers and other professionals who
so parents know their children are safe at one work in BC’s education system. We will continue
place for the full work day. to implement and enhance the Early Care and
• More convenient child care options for working Learning Recruitment and Retention Strategy
parents: Through new partnerships with crown which includes expanding our successful ECE
corporations, universities, local governments, wage enhancement program.
First Nations, and public and private sector • Integrating child care into the broader learning
employers, we will work to make sure new office/ environment: To make sure child care is brought
business construction and upgrades will include formally into the learning timeline, we will move
space for child care centres, so that more parents responsibility for child care to the Ministry of
can access needed child care at their places of Education. It will oversee delivery of all child
work. care initiatives and funding, manage a capital
investment program to build more new spaces,
and ensure quality care through ongoing
curriculum enhancements.
23Better learning for your child
These past three years have been about making
up ground after all the damage done by the old
government – when BC saw increasing classroom
sizes, less support for students with special needs,
inadequate resources, and not enough teachers,
education assistants and support staff.
Under our approach, schools – and the people who work and learn in them
– are now getting the support they need. More teachers. More education
assistants. And over 100 new schools, expansions or major upgrades.
There’s no question that COVID-19 is the biggest challenge our schools have
faced. But with the support and input of public health officials, parents,
teachers, school districts and the staff that work in our schools, we are
overcoming the COVID-19 obstacles.
We’ll keep making learning better for all BC • Fast-tracking improvements to online and
students by: remote learning: We’ll invest in more computers
• Keeping kids safe during the pandemic: We’ll and tablets, more training for teachers and
continue to make classrooms safer through the support staff, and in new ways to improve social
installation of new ventilation systems, plexiglass e-learning that promotes group interactions
barriers in key areas of the school, comprehensive between students and teachers.
cleaning stations, and by ensuring more hours of • Continuing the largest modernization of
cleaning in all schools. schools in BC’s history: We’ll continue the largest
• Putting a focus on mental health in schools: investment of schools in BC’s history – with a focus
We’re building on our investment into mental on meeting seismic requirements and climate
health supports for students and staff, and are change and energy efficiency standards as set out
committed to better supporting children and in our CleanBC plan.
youth with special needs and their families, so
everyone involved in our kids’ learning gets the
help they need.
24• Bringing in local food programs in partnership
with school districts: To help make sure students
are properly fed for learning, we’ll work with
school districts to help create local school meal
programs based on district data and priorities.
And just like with the hospital food program we
created, we’ll integrate FeedBC into this plan so
that districts can include locally grown food.
• Taking the fundraising burden off parents: We’ll
continue to take the pressure off parents to
fundraise while giving students safe, accessible
playgrounds by expanding our Playground Fund
to more schools.
• Making sure classrooms have the resources
they need: We will deliver targeted investments
to help make sure students have the classroom
supplies they need to succeed, so parents and
teachers don’t have to pay the full cost out-of-
pocket.
25Moving you around faster
& more affordably
Work, appointments, errands – whatever the reason
for moving around your community, we know that it’s
been costing you too much time and money. For you
to have a better quality of life, that has to change.
We started to fix things by tackling the biggest problem our government
encountered in its first term: the mess created by the BC Liberals at ICBC.
The Liberals were using ICBC as their private ATM, draining more than a
billion dollars out of the corporation to make their provincial budgets look
better – money that should have been given back to drivers.
We’ve also expanded transit options for people, brought down the cost of
electric vehicles through CleanBC rebates, and created a made-in-BC bus
solution when Greyhound ceased service for people in the north.
But there’s much more left to do, and in the • Making BC Ferries work better for you: We will
coming years we’ll be: make BC Ferries more accountable to the people
• Making car insurance more affordable: By it serves and reset its priorities around you. That
moving ICBC to a new enhanced care model, means having it improve service at peak time,
we will reduce premiums by an average of 20 allocate more space to reservations and allow
percent, while increasing the care available for walk-on reservations, and coordinate with BC
people who are seriously injured in accidents. Transit and Translink to align scheduling and
• Delivering a fair deal to BC drivers: Provide provide a more seamless passenger experience.
COVID-19 premium rebates to BC drivers from
any surplus ICBC delivers during the pandemic.
26• Helping families get around with free transit • Delivering better transit for the South
up to and including age 12: We want to make it Island: We will implement the South Island
easier and more affordable for families to move Transportation Strategy, and provide more active
about. That’s why we’ll make transit (Translink transportation infrastructure, rapid bus service
and BC Transit) throughout the province free for to the West Shore, and safety upgrades to the
kids up to and including age 12. Malahat highway.
• Expanding transit options for people in growing • Planning for future clean transit projects with
areas of the province: This includes increased long-lasting economic benefits: We’ll work with
connections within the Translink network for communities and regions to support planning
people living in the Fraser Valley and the Sea- and development of key projects, like high-
to-Sky region, expanded West Coast Express speed transit links for the North Shore and the
service, and more service for the successful BC expansion of rail up the Fraser Valley – bringing
Bus North program for rural communities. cleaner transit and more construction jobs for
• Widening Highway 1 through the Fraser BC workers.
Valley to ease congestion: This is a critical • Promoting cleaner communities and better
transportation link – we will modernize and health through active transportation: We’ll work
widen it with a completion date of 2026. with communities to expand their networks of
• Improving connections to Surrey and Langley: active transportation as we move towards our
We’ll work with communities to complete the CleanBC goal of doubling trips taken via walking,
Skytrain expansion project and add new rail and biking and other kinds of active networks by the
rapid bus lines. year 2030.
27Tackling climate change,
protecting nature
There’s nothing more important than taking care of
the place we call home – the air, land and water that
makes British Columbia such a good place to live,
work and raise a family.
That’s why our CleanBC strategy – launched in 2018 to tackle climate change
– is so critical to the future of our province and our planet. In the coming
years, moving forward ambitiously with the next stages of CleanBC is equally
as critical. Our kids can’t afford stalling or setting back the progress we’re
making – because no one wants a future routinely marred by massive forest
fires, perennial floods, and air and water that makes us sick.
As part of CleanBC, we’re making it more affordable for people to be a
part of the clean-energy solution by:
• Making electric vehicles more affordable for more people: We’ll provide
a new income-tested incentive on new and used zero-emission vehicles
to get more people into the electric vehicle rebate program, regardless
of their income.
• Increasing public vehicle charging availability: We will expand home
and workplace charging through increased incentives and ‘right-to-
charge’ legislation that gets charging infrastructure into more strata and
apartment buildings.
• Making e-bikes more affordable: To help more people make the switch
to active transportation, we will remove the PST on e-bikes.
28Our government has also taken significant steps to
protect the natural heritage British Columbians are
so proud of. We responded to immediate priorities
including the protection of grizzly bears, old-growth
trees, and critical salmon populations.
And with CleanBC on its path to creating a more sustainable, clean-energy
future, we’ll keep investing in BC’s unique natural heritage:
• Creating better camping experiences for your family: We will expand
BC’s popular provincial parks by creating new campgrounds, trails, and
protected areas while increasing funding to improve infrastructure and
protect park ecosystems.
• Banning single-use plastics: A John Horgan NDP government will begin
the phase-out of single use plastics province wide – helping to create a
healthier home and planet.
• Increasing the protection of BC’s cherished wildlife and habitats: We
will work with neighbouring jurisdictions to cooperatively develop and
invest in new strategies aimed at better protecting our shared wildlife and
habitat corridors.
• Protecting more of BC’s old-growth forests: In collaboration with
Indigenous leaders, labour, industry, and environmental groups, we will
implement recommendations of the Old Growth Strategic Review to
protect further old-growth stands – in addition to the 353,000 hectares
we protected in September.
• Protecting clean water for now and tomorrow: We will protect clean
water in British Columbia by creating a watershed security strategy to
plan, manage and protect local watersheds for the public good – while
making sure BC gets fair rates for the bulk sale of water moving forward.
• Creating local projects and jobs protecting water: As part of the strategy
above, we will seek a partnership with the federal government to establish
a Watershed Security Fund to fund Indigenous, local, and regionally led
clean water initiatives – and create good, sustainable, local jobs for British
Columbians in watershed restoration, monitoring, technology, training,
and education.
• Making polluters pay for cleanup of abandoned projects: We’ll make sure
owners of large industrial projects are bonded moving forward, so that
they – and not BC taxpayers – pay the full cost of environmental cleanup if
their projects are abandoned.
29Moving towards greater self-
determination for Indigenous peoples
One of the proudest moments of our government’s
first three years in office came in late 2019, when
BC became the first province to enshrine the United
Nations’ Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples (UNDRIP) in law.
This legislation was developed and introduced in partnership with Indigenous
leadership from the BC Assembly of First Nations, First Nations Summit and
the Union of BC Indian Chiefs. John Horgan and the NDP have continued
– and will continue – to move forward in the spirit of partnership and
reconciliation, because the work we do today builds a lasting legacy.
Our path together will continue, including: • Extending BC’s support for cultural preservation
• Moving further towards long-term agreements and revitalization: We will extend our funding for
that provide greater self-determination: key projects designed to preserve and respect
The Province’s relationship with Indigenous Indigenous cultures – including the retention and
peoples will continue to move from short- revitalization of First Nations languages, putting
term transactional arrangements to long- additional languages into BC’s curriculum,
term agreements that recognize and support and reflecting Indigenous peoples’ history and
reconciliation, self-determination, and economic cultures in provincial parks and wilderness areas.
independence. • Connecting urban Indigenous peoples to their
• Partnering with Indigenous peoples through home communities: We will expand our support
evolving shared decision making: The 2019 of Aboriginal Friendship Centres that serve
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples the needs of local Indigenous communities
Act has set the table for more meaningful shared while playing a vital role in connecting urban
decision making. As we move forward with key Indigenous peoples from across the province to
decisions on regional land and resource use their home communities.
allocation, we will partner with First Nations, • Improving Indigenous input on provincial policy
providing a clear, stable and sustainable path for and legislation: In consultation and cooperation
everyone to work together. with Indigenous leadership, our government will
create a dedicated Secretariat to ensure new
legislation and policies are consistent with the UN
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
30Equality, inclusion and human rights.
For everyone.
British Columbians believe in the protection and
expansion of human rights. And that’s why we all
should be concerned about a troubling trend in the
history of human rights advocacy in this province:
Every time an NDP government establishes a
Human Rights Commission, the BC Liberals (and its
predecessor, Social Credit) dismantle it when they’re
elected. It happened in 1983 and again in 2002 – this
last time leaving BC as the only province without
a Commission.
John Horgan and the NDP re-established the Human Rights Commission in
2018, and now it – and so many other steps we’ve taken to protect the rights
of everyone in BC – are again at stake in this election.
We are committed to building on our record by:
• Closing the gender pay gap: We will continue to address systemic
discrimination in the workplace and move closer to equal pay for
equal work through new pay transparency legislation.
• Bringing forward legislation to help reduce systemic
discrimination: We will work with BC’s new Human Rights
Commissioner and other stakeholders to introduce legislation
that paves the way for race-based data collection essential to
modernizing sectors like policing, health care and education.
• Delivering a new law to take on racism: With BC’s Multiculturalism
Act now 25 years old, we will conduct a full review of anti-racism
laws in other jurisdictions and launch a full stakeholder consultation
leading to a new Anti-Racism Act that better serves everyone in BC
• Ensuring better representation in the public sector: To create a
more representative public sector, we will support increased IBPOC
(Indigenous, Black, and People of Colour) representation within
government and set targets for IBPOC representation in the public
sector.
31• Increasing immigrants’ participation in the workplace: We’ll
streamline foreign credential assessments processed by various
regulatory bodies and health-related Colleges to make sure
immigrants can more easily strengthen their language skills and
access job opportunities in their field of training.
• Creating a more welcoming province: We’ll provide a one-stop-shop
for newcomers and the settlement sector to advocate in Victoria for
key issues related to immigrant integration, policy, and services.
• Delivering a comprehensive approach to period poverty: Through
the work of so many around the province, BC has become a global
leader in the fight to end period poverty. We’ll support that work
by creating a multi-sectoral Period Poverty Task Force to develop a
long-term response to period poverty in BC.
• Launch a plan to help end gender-based violence: We will develop
an action plan to end gender-based violence, including: minimum
standards for sexual assault response; more training for police,
crown council, and justices; establishing core funding for sexual
assault centres; and more.
• Carrying out a modernization of the Police Act: Based on
recommendations of the Special Committee on Reforming the Police
Act, we will modernize the Police Act, with priorities on: tackling
systemic racism, creating a dedicated hate crime unit within local
police forces, and reviewing training and procedures related to
‘wellness checks’.
• Building a new South Asian-Canadian museum: We’ll embark on a
project to create a first-of-its-kind museum to document the history,
art and contributions of South Asian people in BC
• Honouring the Japanese-Canadian community: We’ll provide
lasting recognition of the traumatic internment of more than 22,000
Japanese-Canadians during World War II in libraries, communities
and at the BC Legislature.
32Safer, caring & healthier
neighbourhoods
Safe neighbourhoods and communities can
mean different things to different people. In
urban areas, it’s about making city streets safer
from illegal drugs and violence; in many rural
communities, priority is put on preventing
damage from wildfires and floods. And wherever
you live, it’s about helping bring housing to those
who are homeless in British Columbia and taking
care of the people in our communities.
That’s why we cast the net wide in bringing direct • Opening doors to opportunity and participation
help to communities throughout BC, and will through accessibility legislation: We will work
continue this work in the years to come: with people across the province to develop and
bring in comprehensive accessibility legislation.
• Creating opportunities for people living
• Supporting police to focus on serious crime
in poverty: Based on our 10-year Poverty
and safer neighbourhoods: To better support
Reduction Plan and the recommendations of the
communities and local police forces, we’ll invest
Expert Panel on Basic Income coming later this
more in community-based mental health and
year, we will determine the best approach and
social services so there are more trained front-
path-forward to reducing poverty long-term and
line workers to help people in crisis.
providing opportunities for jobs and skills training
• Keeping our streets safer from gangs and
through our Economic Recovery Plan.
guns: We will introduce legislation to improve
• Increasing food security for people in need:
information sharing for law enforcement
We will increase our supports to food banks
agencies, regulate imitation firearms, strengthen
and develop program partnerships with grocery
regulation of shooting ranges, and close
stores and not-for-profits – such as Quest and
regulatory gaps.
The Mustard Seed – to develop discounted
food market, food recovery, and redistribution
programs.
33• Supporting communities to address street • Working with Indigenous communities to
disorder and public safety concerns: We’ll improve access to culturally appropriate justice:
continue to fund mental health intervention For too long, Indigenous people have been over-
teams like the six new Assertive Community represented in the criminal justice system – and
Treatment (ACT) teams recently announced for vastly under-represented in terms of roles and
communities experiencing increased challenges responsibilities within that system. We’re working
with vulnerable residents. with the BC First Nations Justice Council in
• Strengthening local communities’ ability to establishing Indigenous Justice Centres across
respond to crises: Through our new community the province to provide services that include
safety fund, local governments can apply for legal advice and representation, advocacy and
funding to help them tackle street disorder, support in dealing with police and provincial
cleanliness, and public safety – and strengthen agencies, and restorative justice.
their ability to respond to challenges posed to • Updating emergency procedures and
businesses and neighbourhoods by increased infrastructure to keep our province safer:
visible homelessness as a result of the pandemic. From wildfires to, now, COVID-19, British
• Expanding the ability of communities to keep Columbia’s emergency preparedness resources
people safer: A handful of BC communities have are being stretched further and further. We
already begun connecting front-line workers will work with communities to identify holes in
from different health, safety, and social service existing emergency response procedures and
sectors to identify and help vulnerable people resources, with the goal of updating and future-
before a traumatic personal event takes place. proofing our province-wide ability to respond to
We’ll work with interested communities to crises.
expand this successful model.
34Good jobs & livelihoods
in a clean-energy future
35Good jobs & livelihoods in a
clean-energy future
Now is the time to build an economy that works
for everyone.
The economic impacts of COVID-19 must serve as a wake-up call for
all of us, because it’s demonstrated clearly just how unbalanced our
economy is – the rich seem to be getting richer while everyday people
carry on under the stress of how to make it to the next month.
British Columbians have told us that, as we all work to rebuild BC’s
economy, we can’t go back to the way things were – because that just
wasn’t working for too many people. BC needs an economy that works
for the public good, and this is the moment to make that pivot.
Have a look at what our economic plan will bring to British Columbia.
An economy that benefits everyone
While the BC Liberals continue to advocate for people at the top,
John Horgan and the NDP are working to create an economy where
everyone can get ahead.
A clean-energy economy & future
Our plan will help British Columbians build an economy that respects
our province and planet, securing a clean future in the communities
we love.
36A strong future for resource workers
& communities
We are working with industries, communities, First Nations and
workers to revitalize and modernize the industries that have helped
build our province.
Becoming a global producer of
low-carbon products & services
We’re moving BC to the forefront of meeting the global demand
for products and services that will reduce emissions and help protect
our planet.
Promoting the strengths of BC’s small and
medium-sized businesses
With help already underway through our Economic Recovery Plan,
we’re focused on new action to help BC businesses grow and hire.
Training for a changing economy
After eliminating interest on student loans and bringing back student
grants, we’re continuing to make post-secondary education, training
and apprenticeships more affordable and available.
Helping workers stay safe and get ahead
BC workers are front-and-centre in our government’s new Economic
Recovery Plan, and we’ll continue to bring forward improved rights and
benefits for all working people.
37An economy that
benefits everyone
How is it that Canada’s 20 richest people saw
their wealth grow by $37 billion during the
pandemic while so many people at the other end
of the wage scale have been forced to struggle
with the financial consequences of COVID-19?
It’s time to make a change. The old way – and the economic recovery plan that delivers key targeted
BC Liberals’ answer to practically everything – is to investments aimed at helping people get back to
provide tax breaks. But it’s been shown over and work, businesses to hire and grow, and communities
over that those tax breaks benefit the people at the to begin moving forward again – building an
top, and leave you paying for it through big cuts to economy for the public good.
the public services you count on.
But our recovery plan is just one step. We are
British Columbians deserve a better path forward. bringing forward a sustained, powerful stimulus
program that will drive growth, investment, and
Our government moved further down that path
more opportunities for everyone in British Columbia.
in September when we launched StrongerBC, our
• Investing an additional 1% of GDP in people and communities:
A new Recovery Investment Fund will deliver about $3 billion a
year – above and beyond our existing $23 billion in new capital
commitments over three years – to drive new growth and
investment. The funding will be used in communities all over the
province to build new schools, hospitals, child care spaces, roads
and transit, and more – creating an expected 18,000 new jobs
every year.
• Delivering local jobs and community benefits: Public projects
should benefit local workers and their communities. So wherever
possible, we will attach our Community Benefits Agreement (CBAs)
to projects launched through the Recovery Investment Fund.
Through CBAs, we’re providing good jobs, fair wages, and skills
training to qualified local workers –particularly those who have
traditionally been under-represented in the workforce.
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